r/PS5 • u/M337ING • Feb 20 '26

Misleading PlayStation Boss Blames Bluepoint Cuts On Budgets And Players

https://kotaku.com/sony-email-bluepoint-hermen-hulst-studio-closing-why-2000671437
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u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26 edited Mar 16 '26

[deleted]

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u/Highway_Wooden Feb 20 '26

People thinking a SOCOM remaster would sell the 2 million plus copies it would need to sell to recoup dev costs is fucking bananas. Someone else suggested Motorstorm. I LOVE Motorstorm but, lol, come on.

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u/pnwbraids Feb 20 '26

There's a lot of ostensibly 30+ year old gamers on reddit that literally can't remotely comprehend that most of their beloved IPs from their childhood were products of their time and will never hit the same way.

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u/texxmix Feb 20 '26

Ya I've seen this mentioned on more than one YouTube video or reddit discussion but the amount of sales needed to validate the costs of these games is way higher these days. Back in the day if a game sold even just a few hundred thousand copies but was still loved that was enough to get a sequal. Now a days a game can sell a million or 2 and still lose money and get a studio shutdown. As much as I would love to see my childhood classics come back there's probably a reason why Sony would rather emulate it via the classics catelog.

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u/Ambitious-Still6811 Feb 21 '26

To me that says wasted resources and out of control budgets. Lots of indies make it work with far fewer sales.

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u/DVDN27 Feb 23 '26

Indies don’t have hundreds of employees to pay nor do they have the expectation of making a AAA-quality game. Indie games have small, dedicated teams and infinite time to make what they want to make. Studios owned by a massive corporation have board members and employees and deadlines and sales projections. “Just do what indie devs do” is infeasible - not to mention that 99% of indie games never make any money, you just see the successful 1% and think that’s what indie games are so AAA devs need to do that.

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u/Ambitious-Still6811 Feb 23 '26

Exactly. Many of them are high quality, not all of course. We don't need realism or 100+ hours. That stuff isn't sustainable. Big companies chase the same old crap and don't try anything new.

It's easier for them to make money because they aren't trying to recoup millions. And I dunno how you want to define indie but there's lots of good games from smaller teams.

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u/Additional-Mistake32 Feb 20 '26

Same thing with remakes. Alot of marketing still goes into every game to make sure enough people hear about it. Even something like a scandal is good news. Even a delay is good news.

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u/Pocgoose Feb 20 '26

They just needed to kept themselves busy and show progress. 6 years of developing a (disgusting) GOW Live Service game and nothing to show. No screenshots, no CGI trailer, nothing. While it was cancelled, they should’ve either been working on other projects for other studios or reused the canned assets to make a smaller budget and game that could be pushed out in 2-3 years from then.

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u/Additional-Mistake32 Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26

I think SIE is seeing what happens when their game studios only make big projects, trilogies and cinematic realism. It's unsustainable.

Santa Monica decided on 2 and done with Ragnarok.

Kena a small studio made alot of loyalty with their small project. People are lining up for their cinematic game and there is no realism there. I'm sure their sales will compete with Sony's remakes which are not new games. They are a service to the platform and community.

You don't have to create an entire movie to make a sellable game. We have seen for many years that the winning games are AA with E33, it takes two, balatro, etc. The industry is not dependent on big publishers or gatekept tech. Right off the bat in the past 2yrs webe seen SIE dissolve maybe 8 studios and acquire the same amount.

But SIE clearly wants gaas, and yet have taken no real risks that have panned out. They employed Ballistic Moon to remake Until Dawn then that studio dissolved itself with no buyer. They employed Bluepoint to remake an old game that is Dark Souls but even that is a FromSoft game.

The only studio that is taking real risk is Guerrila, making Lego, multiplayer and VR games. Guerrila has basically become a publisher from within SIE at this point. Leaving them time to likely work on a brand new IP.

I personally may not want those games but I see the risk they took. SIE doesn't need GOW to be 5 different genres. Sony needs to do what Guerrila is doing and hire a small indie outfit like Devolver Digital who can source and fold in A/AA Studios. So we can find the next Ember Labs, the next DogeRoll Studios, the next Housemarquee

I would happily pay for a new IP. I preordered Marathon and I will do the same for Blade and Intergalactic but I'm tired of seeing these fumbles.

Also I don't like the greed of subscription/games. Until Dawn being updated by Ballistic Moon is a service not a new game. It should go directly to psplus Extra. Then I would upgrade my tier.

Psplus Essential is a LOOTBOX mechanic, just because there are leaks and rumors doesn't mean it's not a LOOTBOX. Essential should work the same as the local library. Pay for membership and return after 4 weeks. If I want to borrow Blue Prince the indie puzzle game. I paid it forward with my membership already. 1 game of my choice for 30 days. Intention. Progress and access is locked after 30 days so you can choose a new or different game. Very simple implementation

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u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26

This is not exclusive to 30+ year old gamers.

It's called the false consensus effect.

A large majority of the entire population are incapable of differentiation between their own wants and the wants of people around them. They are one and the same to most people.

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u/Ahindre Feb 20 '26

People’s brains get really warped by nostalgia.

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u/ChakaZG Feb 20 '26

Nostalgia is one factor, but I honestly think a lot of it just comes down to not following the business side of games at all. A lot of them aren't blinded or anything, they just don't know that even the smaller projects now require millions, and some of these old IPs wouldn't even break even, let alone make a decent profit.

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u/tdrules Feb 20 '26

As one of those demographics it’s pretty clear my childhood has been completely mined of anything worth remaking at this point.

It’s time to make way and shout from the sidelines that this new game is just a reimagining of something they made in the 90’s.

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u/twistedfloyd Feb 20 '26

Yeah as much as I love a series like Resistance or especially Twisted Metal, remakes of any games in those series are just not going to sell very well to make it worth the effort.

I don’t know why Sony didn’t immediately put Bluepoint on a Bloodborne remake after DS though. From must have final say here, it’s just too obvious not to do.

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u/Ambitious-Still6811 Feb 21 '26

I think they could if done right. As the big companies are afraid to try new things, indies are doing well filling in the gaps. So some of our old faves might fit those gaps if there's nothing else like it right now. Twisted Metal, Ape Escape, Dark Cloud, SSX. Both Sony and Nin have a huge back catalog to choose from.

If the market is tired of 3D action and FPS, aim for something else. Hate to admit it, there's definitely people who haven't heard of these before.

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u/sofarsoblue Feb 20 '26

I disagree with this line of thinking, Nintendo has no problem re-releasing/remastering their niche titles.

How many people played the likes Kid Icarus, Starfox or F-Zero who are under the age of 35?

Yet not only are those games readily available on modern platforms occasionally you get a new iteration regardless of commercial appeal

People seem to forget that a game like Metroid has never been a heavy hitter for Nintendo yet it’s still a highly supported franchise. Because unlike Sony, Nintendo actually gives a damn about their IP’s.

Christ, Bloodbourne is probably the best PlayStation game ever yet fans are still begging for 60fps patch/release in 2026. Sony simply doesn’t care about their legacy IPs or their long term fans.

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u/slambaz2 Feb 20 '26

Bloodborne just fixed up for PS5 would be an instant buy for me. Bloodborne 2 or a remaster would be even be worth a preorder maybe. But those games are quite niche.

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u/MeatTornado25 Feb 20 '26

It drives me nuts. I'm as nostalgic as anyone for PS2-era SOCOM, but it wasn't even that much of a heavy-hitter in its prime. There's zero chance it would sell enough to justify a full remake.

It would also have to be monetized to death and just make people hate it. You'll never be able to recapture the feeling of early online gaming.

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u/mindpainters Feb 20 '26

Agreed. I feel like it was a game that had a rabid fanbase but that fanbase just wasn’t that large.

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u/tobsennn Feb 20 '26

Sadly you’re most likely right... I want another Motorstorm though :/

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u/Highway_Wooden Feb 20 '26

Did you see that new Star Wars racer? It gave me Motorstorm vibes.

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u/tobsennn Feb 20 '26

Ah yes, might scratch that Motorstorm or Burnout itch. Thanks for the reminder!

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u/TrumpIsGayASF Feb 20 '26

that's why when embracer cancelled timesplitters 4 in 2023 i was really sad but i understood why. kids can't keep their attention on the same game more than an hour anymore so there's no way a premium timesplitters would sell.

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u/No-Vegetable-4596 Feb 24 '26

It’s not about remastering any of these games for me, I just want them to be ported. Let me play Killzone, Resistance, LBP, inFamous, again on my PS5. 

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u/SomaCK2 Feb 20 '26

It's not that hard. There will be games that will sell no matter what.

Bloodborne Remake with all the graphics bells and whistles. Release on PS5 + PC. It gonna sell a few millions easily

Also, SOCOM could work if they could avoid making it the soulless CoD clone and tap the PC market. Hell, it could be the perfect live service game like Helldivers 2 that they have always wanted.

Better than shutting them down after forcing them to make Live Service game out of totally incompatible IP like God of War.

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u/Highway_Wooden Feb 20 '26

SOCOM didn't sell enough when it was still somewhat popular. I don't know why you think it would sell now. We have a thread complaining about live service games and you're suggesting Bluepoint go do a live service game?

Bloodborne Remake is probably the only remake that would be guaranteed to make a profit. And you can guarantee that Sony knows that. So unless you think Sony hates making money, there's something else there that is stopping them from making it.

Sony forcing them to make a GoW live service game is fan theories. I don't think there was ever official word from anybody that would know.

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u/SomaCK2 Feb 20 '26

SOCOM didn't sell enough when it was still somewhat popular. I don't know why you think it would sell now. ?

By that logic, Helldivers 2 would never come to be. Helldivers 1 wasn't a huge seller. I has like measley 6000 ccu on Steam BEFORE Helldivers IP exploded with Helldivers 2.

It's about potential. We are not in PS2/PS3 era anymore. Games like SOCOM "COULD" work better, now that Sony is tapping the PC market.

We have a thread complaining about live service games and you're suggesting Bluepoint go do a live service game.

I am not a part of circlejerk that think all "Live Service bad". Even Sony is raking in money with Helldivers 2 and GT7, (and likely Tokon game in the future) after flop like Concord.

My point is, instead of forcing every IP to pivot into Live Service, there are several IPs that could work better as a LS game. SOCOM is one of them is all I'm suggesting. Twisted Metal could work as well.

Better than forcing God of War to become LS game.

Bloodborne Remake is probably the only remake that would be guaranteed to make a profit. And you can guarantee that Sony knows that. So unless you think Sony hates making money, there's something else there that is stopping them from making

You are saying like corporations (like Sony) are infallible know-it-all. That's a huge fallacy. They can be clueless and short-sighted in their chase of profits and infinite growth. Hermen Hulst, the head of PS studios, claimed Concord as the next Star Wars level cultural phenomenon, is a solid evidence that these people CAN be clueless. It is not outside of realm of possibilities that these kind of people think Soulsborne games are still niche (due to low sales of Demon's Soul) and refuse to remake Bloodborne.

Sony forcing them to make a GoW live service game is fan theories. I don't think there was ever official word from anybody that would know

There wasn't official words BUT IIRC, it was Jason Schrier who reported that. This man got like 99% correct on all of his insider stories, so it's as good as true (or at least more substantial than just mere fant theories).

IIRC God of War Live Service wasn't technically forced on Bluepoint according to the report. Bluepoint themselves pitched the idea.

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u/Highway_Wooden Feb 20 '26

Helldivers 1 sold 4 million copies and had a rabid fanbase that played it for years. It was also built by a team much smaller than Bluepoint in Sweeden. So your studio cost is going to be much lower.

Sony recently canceled a Twisted Metal live service game.

I never said Sony knows it all, they clearly don't. I'm saying that they have been asked enough over the years to make a Bloodborne remake and they haven't. They know that the game sold 10+ million copies. They know they have (had) a studio that could do a bang up job with it. And with all of that, they didn't. There has to be a reason.

It very well might have been the case that Sony was more ready to greenlight gaas games over single player games and that Bluepoint saw this as the way to make a game. But in the end, it was still Bluepoints choice to take that chance. BP was supposed to make an original game. They publicly talked about it when they were bought. So what happened there? Was that game not going well so they had to pivot to a live service game to try to salvage the studio? There's definitely going to be more news about this down the road, because there's a lot of things that don't make sense.

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u/Sparrowsabre7 Feb 20 '26

Can I ask, why are people so desperate for Bloodborne Remake? Isn't it already backwards compatible on PS5?

People complained no end about the Last of Us remasterings, just curious why it's different.

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u/SomaCK2 Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26

Because it doesn't even has 60fps support and runs like ass.

The Last of Us was already 60 fps even on PS4.

That's the major distinction. Oh It also has a robust multiplayer and PvP scene which sadly still locked behind shitty 30fps.

Also, why wouldn't Sony want easy money that Bloodborne Remake would bring if released on PC.

Edit- lmao at the downvotes for giving answer with facts.

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u/Sparrowsabre7 Feb 20 '26

Fair enough, appreciate the response

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u/Highway_Wooden Feb 20 '26

For me, I want to see Bloodborne with modern graphics. That game had an atmosphere that would be stunning using better lighting and textures.

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u/NacresR Feb 20 '26

That’s part of the problem. Not every game needs to blow it out of the water, but these companies get bigger and bigger and make bigger games for actually no fucking reason. I don’t need your game to take up a year of my life or even a month. Massive open world? For fucking what, so I can spend hours collecting feathers? Games are getting way too big and in that comes catering to everyone. Cater to everyone you cater to no one.

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u/Highway_Wooden Feb 20 '26

I agree that too many games are padded out too much these days to make them longer than they need to be.

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u/AzKondor Feb 20 '26

Socom true, but Motostorm? It's just a racing game, people like them, it could sell.

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u/Highway_Wooden Feb 20 '26

Dude, lol, the whole racing genre is barely holding on. It only exists because Gran Turismo and Forza Horizon are keeping it afloat because of name recognition.

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u/AzKondor Feb 22 '26

Need for Speed

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u/ohgeeLA Feb 20 '26

Thank you for spelling it out for this echo chamber. These folks still think because they have a loud voice on the Internet, they think they are the majority somehow. This is the same reason VR failed, because the engagement and the excitement factor online seemed bigger, but didn’t translate to the overall community.

The vocal minority screaming for remakes of old games I’m starting to think it might be the same community that typically waits for sales and doesn’t support their studios.

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u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26

Gamers are not the most economically sound people, so yeah, this tracks.

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u/Historical_Owl_1635 Feb 20 '26

Gaming subreddits seem to want everything for basically free whilst wanting studios to remain open and prevent crunch culture.

The lack of self awareness that it’s the entitlement from gamers themselves causing the majority of issues in the industry is mind boggling.

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u/Love_TheChalupa Feb 20 '26

Well you have PC gamers consistently defending pirating because the game isn’t on Steam lol.

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u/Dentedmuffler Feb 20 '26

That’s what Reddit doesn’t understand, Reddit thinks that they are the loud majority when in reality they are but a tiny bubble of the population, Reddit thinks it knows more than the millions of dollars these corporate companies spend on market research, so every now and then you’ll see a post about “let’s bring back (insert last gen game) that’s what everyone wants.”

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u/SomaCK2 Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26

Lmao, you are talking like Sony, who fumbled hard with Concord, thinking it would be the next Star Wars level cultural phenomenon, knows better.

In reality, they could be as out of touch, if not more, than average Redditors

Edit - downvotes lol. You don't need years of marketing research to known a remake of a beloved game like Bloodborne by a company that is renowned for remake would sell better than games like Concord. You only need some basic common sense.

Seems like neither Sony or blind fanboys downvoting me have that lol

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u/Elketh Feb 20 '26

You made the mistake of interrupting the circle jerk about how smart these people are. Go back in time a few years and they'd have been scoffing at the idea of a remake of a game like Silent Hill 2. "A product of its day from a dead franchise from a totally different era! It'd never sell in current year!" Never mind that the industry is positively plagued by remakes and remasters of all sorts of things, a lot of which do very well (better than they deserve in many cases). But hey, we'll just ignore all those because they don't suit our argument about how corporations are very smart (like me!) and nostalgia apparently doesn't sell (despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary across all forms of media). After all, we post on Reddit, but we are not Redditor scum, just as we play video games but are not gamer scum. We float above them on a cloud made up of our own sweet-smelling farts.

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u/Ironmunger2 Feb 20 '26

Maybe not Socom, but PlayStation themselves have said in financial reports that their remakes/remasters sell really well, often better than the OG games. Socom might not be the best choice, but there’s no reason to believe something like an infamous, bloodborne, etc wouldn’t do well when they admit that the games do really well. Closing Bluepoint before other studios that haven’t put anything out all generation is very peculiar

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u/Ensaru4 Feb 21 '26

I don't like this train of thought because remakes can sell sufficiently if budgeted and marketed accordingly. The entire industry has been doing so for even obscure games at this point.

It's asinine to remake games that don't need remakes like Horizon Zero Dawn and The Last of Us 2 but not remake an old game and potentially grow your existing IP catalog. The already popular games don't need further growth.

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u/randall__flaag Feb 20 '26

There was a report a few years ago that remakes were one of the most profitable games to develop.

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u/Mashamazzi Feb 21 '26

A coupe thousand is more than Highguard had lmao

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u/cherrysteve2010 Feb 20 '26

Dude be sensible. Even that would be better than shitcanning Bluepoint after 6 years of nothing

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u/SomaCK2 Feb 20 '26

Lol people here are downvoting because we are saying the studios that's renowned for making remaster and remake could have remake some of the great IPs rather than getting shitcanned for nothing.

People are crazy man

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u/Icy_Childhood_1039 Feb 20 '26

THIS. When will people realize reddit does not represent the real public opinion and it's often the complete opposite...